Pre war history (received fom Ron Young): "Registered in Oslo, 109.88m length, by a 14.73m beam and a draught of 6.35m. Built by A. Vuijk & Zonen at Capelle de IJselnear Rotterdam, Holland as Zwarte Zee in 1919. Purchased by Cie de Navigation Paquet of Marseilles in 1928, renamed Oued Beht. Sold in 1934 to C. Hadjipateras & Son, Piraeus, renamed Katingo Hadjipateras. Sold in 1936 to A/S Malmöfahrt, who was the owner at the time of loss, changed her name finally to Varangmalm. The manager and address for the new company was Reinh Mithassel, Sjofartsbygningen, Kongensgaten 6, in Oslo. Her single steel screw propeller was powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine that developed 301hp using three boilers. Fijenoord built the machinery at Rotterdam. She had a speed of 9-knots and cylinder sizes measuring: 40.64cm, 101.60cm, 170.18cm-114.30cm (24in., 40in., 67-45-inches)".

WW II: Varangmalm sank after striking a mine on Oct. 29-1939, 53 50N 00 17E, on a voyage from Kirkenes to Antwerp with a cargo of iron ore. 1 died. Wreck dispersed.

Whale catchers. Owned by Vestfold Corp, Panama, which was controlled by Johan Rasmussen & Co, Sandefjord. All sailed under the Panamanian flag. A separate page about these catchers has pictures and more information on each one.

POST WAR: Delivered in Aug.-1945 as Vesthav to Skibs-A/S Sydhav (Per Lodding), Oslo. Sold in 1956 to R. A. Oetker, Hamburg, and renamed Heinrich Christian Oetker (German flag). Sold for breaking up to Eisen & Metall AG, Hamburg, where she arrived on April 18-1963.

Another Vesthav was delivered in March-1964, managed by Per Lodding, Oslo, built in Copenhagen, 33 822 gt. Sold to China in 1974 and renamed Jian Hu, renamed Da Qing 253 in 1977, broken up in China 1995.

Built in 1919 by Harland & Wolff, Glasgow as Glenluce for the Glen Line, 405'9" x 54'2", 11 knots. Sold Febr.-1936 to P.Wigham Richardson, Newcastle, renamed Ionopolis, then sold to Skibs A/S Vigrid (Brun & von der Lippe), Tønsberg and renamed Vigo. Used as whaling supply ship in the Antarctic.

Related external link:Glen Line Fleet - Scroll down to Glenluce. A section of the Red Duster website, which also has the history of other Glen Line ships.

There's a Norwegian Vigo of 710 gt listed as sailing in Convoy HN 16 from Norway to the U.K. in March.-1940. This ship is listed in the Homefleet Section of this site. Germany had a steamship by the name Vigo, which struck a mine and sank in the River Weser on March 6-1944.

D/S Viggo Hansteen NS

Nortraship

7176 gt

Built in Baltimore MD 1943. Previous name: George M. Shriver until Oct.-1943.

One of 10 (11?) ships added to Nortraship's Fleet in 1943, on bareboat charter from the United States War Shipping Administration. See my page "Ship Statistics and Misc." for a list of the others under"Gains 1943". Viggo Hansteen was taken over in Baltimore on Oct. 20-1943.

All available info on this ship has been assembled on my page M/S Villanger (includes a picture).

D/S Vilma NS

K. S. Nordgreen, Bergen

1314 gt

Built in Sunderland 1906. Previous names: Capitol, Grovemont, Tudhoe.

In the coal trade Svalbard-North Norway. (This ship ended up in Nortraship's register though it didn't get out of Norway).

Some of her voyages (to Apr.-1946) are listed on the following documents received from the National Archives of Norway:Page 1 | Page 2

Attacked by British aircraft in Sognefjord on Dec. 3-1940, on a voyage from Fauske with cargo of limestone. The bombs did not hit, but subsequent machine gun fire badly wounded the cook, John Gerhardsen, and killed the pilot Hagbart Gustavsen. Vilma was damaged, but able to proceed to Knarrevik.

Other ships by this name:Norway (Jens Folkman) had lost 2 ships named Vindeggen in WW I, one built 1895, 2610 gt - sunk by the German U-35 north of Mallorca on Sept. 27-1916, while on a voyage from Newcastle for Spezia with a cargo of coal. The other Vindeggen was built 1916, 3179 gt, sunk on June 10-1918.

POST WAR: Delivered on July 17-1945 to Skibs-A/S Nordheim (Halfdan Ditlev-Simonsen & Co.), Oslo. From 1948, in the Pacific Orient Express Line until Jan.-1955, then on TC. Damaged by fire in Aug.-1959 in Hudson Bay, when on a voyage to Port Churchill for cargo of grain. Damages were considerable, and the steward lost his life. Repaired in Kristiansand, Norway. Sold in July-1961 to Sigbjørn Birkelands Rederi, Bergen, delivered in Sept. that year, renamed Ole Bratt. Sold in Jan.-1968 to Enomena Shipping Corp., Andros, delivered in Venice on Febr. 16, renamed Anemone. Sold to Chinese breakers in Jan.-1974, leaving Mizushima for Shanghai on Jan. 30-1974. (Majority of info received from Tor Leiv Tørvik, Norway - his source: Dag Bakka Jr., picture is available).

M/S Vinland NS

Knut Knutsen O. A. S., Haugesund

4436 gt

Built in Copenhagen 1924.

Read more about Vinland and her war voyages at M/S Vinland (also has pictures).

M/S Vinni NS*

Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen & Co., Oslo

5181 gt

Built Gothenburg 1937. (Tonnage is listed as 5200 gt by Ditlev-Simonsen).

Built by A/B Gøtaverken, Gothenburg, in 1937. 425.6' x 56.8' x 21.6' (dimensions from this posting to my Ship Forum).

WW II: Captain Helmer Henriksen. On charter to British Phosphate Commissioners. Captured and sunk by auxiliary cruiser Komet on Dec. 7-1940, 5 miles south of Nauru 00 41S 16 55E, having recently arrived from New Zealand to take on a cargo of phosphate. M/S Vinni's Story has a summary of the main events of Dec.-1940 - includes crew list and a picture of some of the crew sent to me by the captain's grandson, Captain Henriksen's report about the time he and his men spent on Komet, details on what daily life was like on Emirau where they were all subsequently landed, names of the other ships that landed prisoners there, facts on Komet etc., etc.

Her voyages prior to capture are listed on this original document received from the National Archives of Norway.

Related external link:The "Komet" Raider - Quite a bit of info, Vinni is mentioned. The main page has links to many more interesting stories.

Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen & Co. had another ship by the name Vinni after the war, and Helmer Henriksen also served on this ship from the end of Nov.-1946 until he retired in June-1947. This was Nortraship's D/S Leiv Eiriksson during the war.